A Study of Acts: Many Are Saved on the First Pentecost
Acts 2:37-42 - Believe, repent, be saved! Confirm your faith through baptism.
“Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
Acts 2:37-42 NASB1995
Peter has boldly and effectively preached the Gospel on this day of Pentecost to these many listeners, some who may have been part of the crowds that condemned Jesus several weeks earlier. The Holy Spirit comes over them and they are “pierced to the heart” by Peter’s words.
Let’s do a word study: Pierced comes from the Greek verb κατανύσσω or katanýssō, with the following Biblical usages; this is the only usage of Strong’s G2660 in the New Testament:
to prick, pierce
metaph. to pain the mind sharply, agitate it vehemently
esp. of the emotion of sorrow
Rather than react with anger or resentment or mockery, which happens quite often when God’s word is preached to the “outside world”, this crowd feels a very strong emotion of sorrow. They ask Peter and the other disciples what they should do in atonement. I like this commentary from Enduring Word on the first part of this passage:
Now when they heard this…“What shall we do?” This was obviously a significant work of the Holy Spirit. The great crowd listening to Peter was deeply moved by Peter’s bold proclamation of the truth. They asked Peter how they should respond.
It is wrong to think that Peter offered no kind of invitation or challenge for his listeners to respond. Acts 2:40 says, And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Peter clearly did exhort them to respond, and invited his listeners to “Be saved.” Nevertheless, the multitude responded with remarkable initiative.
The response of the crowd also helps us to put the events of that Day of Pentecost into perspective. The exercise of the gift of tongues produced nothing in the listeners except for astonishment and mocking. It wasn’t until the gospel was preached that conviction from the Holy Spirit came. This was the work God really wanted to accomplish.
Cut to the heart: This is a good way of describing the conviction of the Holy Spirit. They now knew that they were responsible for the death of Jesus (as each of us are), and that they had to do something in response to this responsibility.
Peter had some previous experience with cutting. When Jesus was arrested, Peter cut off the right ear of one of the men who came to arrest Jesus (John 18:10). All this was an embarrassing mess that Jesus had to clean up. That showed Peter in the flesh, doing the best he could with a literal sword of human power.
When the resurrected Jesus changed Peter’s life and when the power of the Holy Spirit had come upon him, he did some much more effective cutting; cutting hearts, opening them to Jesus. This is what Peter could do in the power of the Spirit, doing God’s best with the sword of the Spirit, God’s Word. Which sword was more powerful?
Men and brethren, what shall we do? When God is working on someone’s heart, they want to come to Him; they will act to come to God.
It has been said that in normal seasons of Christian work the evangelist seeks the sinner. Yet in times of revival or awakening, things change: the sinner seeks the evangelist. This Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 was one of those great seasons of God’s work.
I love this! God is working on these hearts, awakening many to seek redemption; this was the first real day of Christian revival! Peter wields the sword of the Word of God and is doing something much more powerful than impulsively reacting with a physical sword like he did in the Garden.
Peter exhorts the group to repent! That is how they turn to God. According to Precept Austin, God uses at least four factors to prompt repentance:
(1) The knowledge of God's Truth should prompt repentance (Mt 11:21-24 - where Chorazin, et al [cities] refused to repent at the Truth; cf Lk 16:30-31+ which also illustrates the sufficiency of the Truth to prompt repentance.) Note the deadly deception - one can have Truth (as well as #2 sorrow) without true repentance! Beware!
(2) Sorrow for sin can lead to repentance (2 Cor 7:9-10+), but sorrow per se should NOT be confused with true repentance. E.g., Judas felt sorrow (remorse - Mt 27:3) for betraying Jesus but he did not repent of his horrible sin. Had he repented Jesus would have forgiven him! Amazing grace!
(3) God's kindness prompts (leads to) repentance (Ro 2:4+) - the corollary thought is that true repentance is a gift of the Spirit!
(4) Fear of final judgment (as discussed in Acts 17:30,31+) can motivate one to true repentance. Indeed, realization that there is no other way of escape but through Jesus, should cause any "rational" person to repent.
You can see God’s Truth and have sorrow for your sin without true repentance! According to another commentator on Precept Austin, false repentance dreads the consequences of sin; true repentance dreads sin itself. Repentance, as we have studied before, means a true change of heart and mind, a turn away from the path that you are on. Your path may be easy and wide and comfortable and fun, but the path of true repentance is narrow and challenging. But you have help!
Now some controversy arises in this passage - Some denominations believe that Acts 2:38 confirms that baptism is required for salvation and the forgiveness of sins. Baptism is both an inward and outward (public) statement of faith in a church community that is done after you have repented and believed, which is why I have completely broken away from the old Lutheran idea that baptism is best done to infants. When I was in that denomination, I was truly fearful that the lack of baptism rites would mean the loss of salvation! But infants who are baptized can blaspheme the Holy Spirit as adults and walk away from faith (Steve and I were dangerously close to this condition); in fact, sadly, there are sites and ceremonies to undo your infant baptism - I won’t link to them but they are commonly found. And don’t get me started on the salvation of the thief on the Cross, who merely called on the name of Jesus and was saved, without all of the trappings and ceremonies of established religion.
Here is another interesting thought - there are no records in the Gospel that Jesus baptized others as a prerequisite for healing them or having them follow Him or for any other reason. He encouraged others to be baptized by John and He did this Himself, not for His non-existent sins, but as a statement of faith for many to see and emulate. This article on Gotquestions.org on Acts 38 on whether Baptism is required for forgiveness of sins is superb; here are a few excerpts:
And Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’” As with any single verse or passage, we discern what it teaches by first filtering it through what we know the Bible teaches on the subject at hand. In the case of baptism and salvation, the Bible is clear that salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, not by works of any kind, including baptism (Ephesians 2:8-9). So, any interpretation which comes to the conclusion that baptism, or any other act, is necessary for salvation, is a faulty interpretation. For more information, please visit our webpage on "Is salvation by faith alone, or by faith plus works?"
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There is an important difference between a condition of salvation and a requirement for salvation. The Bible is clear that belief is both a condition and a requirement, but the same cannot be said for baptism. The Bible does not say that if a man is not baptized then he will not be saved. One can add any number of conditions to faith (which is required for salvation), and the person can still be saved. For example if a person believes, is baptized, goes to church, and gives to the poor he will be saved. Where the error in thinking occurs is if one assumes all these other conditions, “baptism, going to church, giving to the poor,” are required for one to be saved. While they might be the evidence of salvation, they are not a requirement for salvation. (For a more thorough explanation of this logical fallacy, please see the Question: Does Mark 16:16 teach that baptism is required for salvation?).
The fact that baptism is not required to receive forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit should also be evident by simply reading a little farther in the book of Acts. In Acts 10:43, Peter tells Cornelius that “through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins” (please note that nothing at this point has been mentioned about being baptized, yet Peter connects believing in Christ with the act of receiving forgiveness for sins). The next thing that happens is, having believed Peter’s message about Christ, the “Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message” (Acts 10:44). It is only after they had believed, and therefore received forgiveness of their sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit, that Cornelius and his household were baptized (Acts 10:47-48). The context and the passage are very clear; Cornelius and his household received both forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit before they were ever baptized. In fact, the reason Peter allowed them to be baptized was that they showed evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit “just as Peter and the Jewish believers” had.
In conclusion, Acts 2:38 does not teach that baptism is required for salvation. While baptism is important as the sign that one has been justified by faith and as the public declaration of one’s faith in Christ and membership in a local body of believers, it is not the means of remission or forgiveness of sins. The Bible is very clear that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone (John 1:12; John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:21-30; Romans 4:5; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 3:9; Galatians 2:16).
Excellent commentary! I suggest reading the whole thing. There is a lengthy discussion of Greek vocabulary that I did not include in this excerpt and how it is used in this statement by Peter.
Peter tells the group that they will receive the Holy Spirit as a gift. He says this promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself. The promise is for everyone, Jews and Gentiles! Although Peter may not know that he is promising this to Gentiles, it is not long in the book of Acts before the message is seen to be universal.
Peter said many other words that day and exhorted the listeners to be saved from that perverse generation. Of course a generation that crucified the Son of God was perverse, but things have not changed since the Fall. We live in a perverse generation now. Steve’s devotional for 8/6/2024 talked about a revelation we both had during a sermon at the church we are visiting. This sermon, on judging, was superb and we realized that sitting there sweating and praying about and judging the incredibly perverse, unbelieving generation that exists in the year of our Lord 2024 is not following God. God deals with those who remain in the world. We believers are to look in the mirror of scripture at ourselves and repent and be refined by the Holy Spirit; we can then bring the message of hope to others of the world so they, too, leave that perverse collective. We are to be the light!
So the light that many saw that day in Peter led to over 3,000 souls repenting and demonstrating their new faith through baptism. And the Apostles continually dedicated themselves to teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
My next devotional examines Acts 2:43-47 - The early church blossoms.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - I am in humble gratitude for the insights You gave me on this passage of Scripture. Please help me to turn away from sin and delight in the path that You provide. Please help me to be a light to others in this perverse generation. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
The Blue Letter Bible was accessed on 8/5/2024 to review the lexicon for pierced.
Enduring Word commentary by David Guzik is used with written permission.
Precept Austin was accessed on 8/5/2024 to review the commentary for Acts 2:37-42.
GotQuestions.org was accessed on 8/5/202 to answer the question, “Does Acts 2:38 teach that baptism is necessary for salvation?”